The Battle of the Bulge for many seems to kick in starting with Halloween and runs until after New Year’s and that is actually the key to maintaining fitness during the holidays. A large Thanksgiving dinner, with multiple helpings, or a Christmas feast is not going to pack on the pounds during the holiday season. It’s what you do every other day during the holidays that will affect your waistline. The Battle of the Bulge is a war of attrition, and is fought in increments, in skirmishes, in the daily fights of our lifestyle and our mindfulness of what we are actually doing when we eat and when we workout. Here are three ways to get started on winning that battle before it begins.

Start Working Out Now

Don’t wait until after Thanksgiving to start training. Don’t make it your New Year’s Resolution. Go into the holidays with yourself already on track. A healthy exercise regimen will have you burning excess calories in advance of those holidy meals. New a quick, simple workout? Here’s an example of a basic workout we do at the Maryland Jeet Kune Do Academy that is quick, and can get you started on the path to fitness today! 3 mins aerobic warm up, such as jogging, jumping rope, or shadowboxing 5 sets of 10 Hindu Push-ups alternating with 5 sets of 20 Hindu squats 2 sets of forward and sideways leg raises for each leg It should only take you about 15 minutes to complete this workout, and you’ll be well on your way to getting in shape.

Start Eating Mindfully Now

It’s never the Christmas dinner or the Thanksgiving feast that packs on the pounds, even if you go back for seconds or thirds of Aunt Edna’s triple cranberry sweet potato marshmallow pie. It’s everything else that we do between now and then. Those pumpkin spice lattes? Stop drinking them, or at least cut it down to a treat you give yourself once a week. All the holiday cookies and candies that people will bring in to the office to share? Don’t eat them. Discipline yourself in these small things, and look forward to the goal of enjoying time with family and feasting on the actual holidays, not the run up to them. It’s making excuses for this cookie and that doughnut that cause people to pack on weight over the holidays, not one meal on one day.

Start Walking More

Do yourself a favor and park your car at the far end of the parking lot. Now, I’m not advising you to ignore safety and situational awareness, so be sure you park near other cars and under a street lamp. Increasing the distance and time you walk each day will have a tremendous health benefit. Walking at an easy pace for an hour can burn between 315 to 470 calories.